Exposure
by Kirsten-B
Summary: Clark is forced to expose himself and then wants to run away...
1. Chapter One

Exposure  
  
Everyone was staring. Clark felt every single pair of eyes on him, burning holes through his clothing. This was it. The moment he had feared ever since he had understood that he was different. The moment of truth.  
  
What hurt him most was the expression of pure disbelief he saw on Lanas face, maybe even fear. Chloe was not afraid, but her eyes showed the curiosity he knew she felt from head to toes.  
  
Only Pete was something like a rock in the sea. Pete had already known that he was different, and how different really. Sympathy showed on his features, because the dreaded moment had finally come.  
  
"How did you do that?"  
  
Someone from the crowd around him finally managed to ask. Clark spun around, trying to make out the speaker. It was Whitney Fordman, of course.  
  
Clark was at a loss for words, so he just shook his head. How did you explain speeding faster than a bullet, catching a collapsing scoreboard weighing at least half a ton, which was threatening to kill half of the high school basketball team and be unharmed by it in front of almost half or the school? Claiming not to know what he did might work in movies or tv- shows, but would it do so in a place called Smallville. The Capitol of Meteor Freaks?  
  
Surely not, Clark realised, when looking into the faces of all the young people around him. Most of them he had known for all his life.  
  
"Wow, that was weird."  
  
Chloe finally managed to say. She knew, that this might be the story of her life. Everyone close to Clark knew he was strange at times, but this was more than ever expected.  
  
Seeing his lost and defeated expression, she suddenly figured that even though this was nothing but sensational news to her, Clark had been forced to reveal things he had kept secret for long.  
  
It explained a lot.  
  
"It's a shame I didn't have my camera with me."  
  
She said, smiling one of her smiles, trying to reassure Clark. Clark didn't react the way she expected. She saw shame in his eyes, and, yes, she saw fear there.  
  
Moving closer to him she tried to pry away some of the attention from him. Her manoeuvre only partly worked. Clark stiffened, but he held her gaze.  
  
"It's time for a first class departure, Clark."  
  
Pete whispered from behind Chloe. She realised he had been quiet all the time.  
  
Clark spoke for the first time, after exposing the strange things he could do.  
  
"I need to tell my parents. And I need to leave."  
  
His voice was monotone, flat and full of hurt. Chloe stared at him.  
  
"What do you mean, you have to leave?"  
  
Clark turned away and within a second had disappeared through the doors.  
  
People started to talk and within moments the noise was almost overwhelming.  
  
Suddenly Pete sighed and then climbed up on on of the seats of the auditorium.  
  
"Could you spare me a second of your attention?"  
  
He yelled, but nobody heard him, except Chloe. She put two fingers to her mouth and produced a piercing whistle no one could have possibly missed. People around her turned silent and curiously watched Pete, who was obviously pretty nervous.  
  
"What is it, Ross?"  
  
Whitney Fordmann called out, followed by others. Pete gestured them to be silent. It took a moment, but Chloe realised, that indeed everyone wanted to know, what Pete had to say.  
  
"What you just witnessed should stay a secret. Because if it isn't it will bring harm to absolutely great people, people we all know as good neighbours and friends."  
  
People started to protest. Pete tried to silence them, so he could continue. He knew from his own experience, that it was hard to understand. Until now, no one did.  
  
"Listen, what we just saw was so out of the ordinary.."  
  
Lana Land said. She still looked very pale, but Whitney held her in his arms. Whitney nodded at her words.  
  
Pete saw, that they really needed an explanation, as had he, when stumbling over Clark and his spaceship on the cornfield.  
  
"Alright, let me just ask you one question."  
  
The people around him nodded, wondering where he was aiming. Pete didn't let them wait.  
  
"Who of you has ever met Clark Kent in person?"  
  
Some of the people raised their hands, but not nearly all. Chloe knew that was, because most of them thought of him as a jerk sometimes.  
  
"Now, to those who met him, how did you feel around him? Did you think he was a jerk, the typical high school idiot? Or did you get the impression I have, that he is a special person, always kind and caring, never turning anyone down, if asked for help. Always responsible and reliable, never false, never pretending?"  
  
Chloe found herself in Petes words. That's what Clark meant to her, and much more, anyway. She nodded wholeheartedly. So did those, who knew Clark, even if they weren't close with him.  
  
"So, if you might have seen the same things in him, then you've been betrayed in one point. He was pretending. All his life, every single moment. He tried to make the people he cares for safe."  
  
Whitney understood what Pete meant. Even though he was still jealous about Clarks and Lanas deep friendship, Clark had proven to be a friend several times. And never did he ask a favor back..  
  
"What do you want to say? What do you know about this?"  
  
He asked, already waining the necessity of secrecy. Those abilities they had seen with Clark would raise the interest of scientists at least, if not the government.  
  
Pete grimaced.  
  
"Look, Clark was born this way. He always had this abilities. They get stronger all the time and there might still be some he will find out about in the future. Can you imagine what effect this has on a high school attendant? Clark has been afraid all of his life, afraid, that people might see him as a freak, where he is an intelligent person with alien superpowers. All he ever wanted, was to belong, to be part of the show. He wanted to play football, basketball or anything similar. He was reasoned out of it, because he would have been forced to limit his abilities, to be aware of them all the time to not hurt anyone. His parents didn't want him to experience the feeling. Clark always wanted to help people and managed to do so big style. Only no one ever linked it to him."  
  
"That was, why he was so afraid, when I started to investigate the accident."  
  
A known voice interrupted Petes speech. He groaned as he recognised Lex Luthor, the man Clark didn't want to find out about his secrets and at the same time, his best friend.  
  
Pete nodded.  
  
"Yes, he saved your life and you started digging." Lex shrugged.  
  
"Wouldn't you, if you found the roof of the car you had been driving off a bridge peeled open like that of a tin? Wouldn't you, if you were sure that you hit a teenage boy with your car at sixty miles per hour, trying to avoid him and then find him unharmed, claiming that he got out of the way in time. There was no time. I saw his face, when I hit him. It would have killed any other person standing there, but not Clark Kent, who didn't care about revealing his secret and saved me from drowning in my car. This explains a lot. Did you know, that you almost killed him on homecoming day?"  
  
Lex turned to face Whitney. The team captain got pale, not looking Lana into the eye.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Whitney managed not to stutter.  
  
"I mean, it was bad enough that you chose Clark to be the human scarecrow out of jealousy, where Clark had never acted out on you. He always respected Lanas decision to be with you. Who can blame him for loving Lana and hoping she might render her decision? A lot of people suffer from unreturned love. But you had to humiliate him as well. You put Lanas necklace around his neck, to make clear, that he would never stand a chance with Lana. You almost killed him with that. Still he never held it against you, when you teamed up with the bad guys, didn't he. He saved you ass as well, then."  
  
Lex was clearly angry, a reaction Chloe and none of the others had ever experienced from him so far.  
  
Pete was stunned. How could Lex possibly know about the danger those meteor rocks posed for Clark. And why had Clark never told him about the scarecrow incident.  
  
"How did you know about the meteor rocks?"  
  
He finally asked Lex, the first time ever to adress him in person.  
  
Lex thought for a moment, figuring how much of his research he could expose.  
  
"There were a couple of occasions on which Clark came in contact with the rocks. He always got dizzy and nauseous then and quickly recovered as soon as he was out of their range. I wondered about it and just thought, he might be allergic. But he isn't in the classical way, is he?"  
  
Lex adressed Pete back. Pete nodded, gathering strength for the upcoming truth.  
  
"No, not in the classical way. Clark is not from this planet. All he knows is, that he was sent to earth in a tiny spaceship at the age of three. The Kents found him, after he had crashed and instantly decided to keep him. The adoption followed, your father arranged it. Over the years he developed his abilities and used them well. A lot of people wouldn't be around if he hadn't!"  
  
"Pete, what did you want to tell us in the first place?"  
  
Lana reminded him, that there had been a reason for his little speech.  
  
"What I wanted you to understand is, that Clark Kent, wherever he may come from, whatever species he may be, that he is one of us. He is not stranger than others, who mutated from the meteor rocks. He grew up around here, he grew up as a human being, thinking like a human being, feeling like one, too. All I ask of you, is to give him a chance, to help keeping his secret a secret. To accept the person behind the person we already know."  
  
Pete stopped talking and searched the faces surrounding him. Thoughtfulness was on most of them, some clearly showed sympathy and genuine acceptance.  
  
It was Whitney who summed up their feelings.  
  
"You're probably right. Clark will never be like normal, but hey, who is? Don't we always preach tolerance? Respect for the individual? Is it our turn to throw the stone? I say, keeping this secret will be an honour for me. I am proud someone as special as Clark chose me as his friend. My mouth is sealed. Whoever does not agree with my decision may come and face me about it. Anybody planning to giving the secret away should be aware what is at stake. The life and the well being of an individual. One of our worlds silent heroes. So, think about this. My mind is made up."  
  
Whitney stepped next to Pete, who was speechless for the moment. Seconds later, Lana, Chloe and Lex stood next to them, watching the others expectantly.  
  
At the end nobody did want to have Clarks blood at their hands, literally. Everybody could imagine what was to happen to Clark, if officials ever found out. Most of them despised officials anyway. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
Clark went through his belongings, wondering what to take with him. His parents had stayed in the kitchen, trying to find a reason to make him stay. They knew, this was going to be hard for Clark, they had always feared, it might happen some day. It didn't smoother the impact of the event, though.  
  
Clark was sure he would never be able to face his friends again. He feared what he had already seen in their eyes. Fear of the unknown, disgust of just another meteor victim. And when they'd somehow realise, that he was the source of all the bad things happening around here, the would make sure, he would pay for it.  
  
At the end he packed a bag with clothes and only very few belongings, including a picture of his closest friends. He moved down the stairs and heard his parents rushing to the front door. He scanned the yard with his x- ray vision and was horrified to find dozens of cars filled with two times as many people outside.  
  
The witnesses. Had he spent too much time feeling sorry for himself? What could he do against so many people to protect his parents, without hurting anyone? Surrender, was the only thing, that came to his mind.  
  
Taking a deep breath he started to follow his parents out, but stopped, when they started talking to someone.  
  
"What is it you want?"  
  
Jonathan Kent asked the young people stopping in front of his house. He already knew, why they were here and his neckhair raised when he recognised Lex Luthors Porsche in between them.  
  
It was Whitney Fordman, who stood out from the crowd, addressing the Kents. Always the leader, Jonathan thought.  
  
"We're sorry to bother you, Mrs. And Mr. Kent. Do you know, where we can find Clark? Pete thought, he might have gone home after the incident with the scoreboard."  
  
Martha had expected a lot of things, so she was taken aback by the genuine concern in Whitney Fordmans voice. She searched all the other faces noting determination to find Clark in them, not seeking revenge or anything like that. Could they have been so wrong in guessing how people might react? Did they damn Clark to a life in secrecy and lies when he could have easily confided in at least some people?  
  
"Why do you look for him? He was pretty disturbed, when he came home a while ago."  
  
Jonathan seemed to share her thoughts, she could sense it in his body language. Still he wouldn't give Clark away.  
  
Lex raised his voice, wanting to know, if they already were too late.  
  
"Mr. Kent, we were wondering, whether Clark has already left, as he mentioned at the gym. We would be very sorry, if he did."  
  
These words coming of Lex Luthor did not set Jonathan at ease. He had never trusted Lex, because he thought him the one person who would definitely try to take advantage of the knowledge. Clark had wanted to tell him, wanted to trust him, but Jonathans warnings had hit home.  
  
"Clark has decided to leave Smallville. We've been trying to persuade him into staying, but he thinks that he has no place left here. Is that true?"  
  
Almost everyone shook their head.  
  
"No!"  
  
Lana cried.  
  
"I know he saw our surprise and I am sure a lot of us had to put the usual prejudices aside. Clark left before anyone had a chance to understand. We've been discussing the matter seriously and there is no reason, why he shouldn't stay. If there isn't space for him, then for whom it is?"  
  
Agreement was plain on all the faces. Martha fought back her tears and wondered whether Clark had realised that nearly all his high school mates were standing in front of the porch.  
  
Suddenly she felt a strong hand at her shoulder, squeezing her reassuringly and looking for support at the same time. Clark had witnessed all this and made his decision, whatever it may be.  
  
The people cheered when they recognised Clark at the porch, but the soon silenced when they saw his duffel bag over his shoulder. He was ready to go.  
  
"Please don't go, Clark."  
  
A girl shouted. Clark knew her from chemistry, but she had never bothered to speak with him. Neither had he in return.  
  
He didn't answer, fighting back tears at the display of such emotion from someone he hardly knew. He saw Pete, Chloe and Lex standing at the back of the crowd, their expressions anxious at how he had decided.  
  
Again it was Whitney, who took action, filling out his leading role. He did that pretty well, Clark had to admit.  
  
"I agree, Clark. You should stay and give us a second chance to realise that you're actually a person worth knowing. We don't deserve it, but we'd be glad if you would give it anyway."  
  
Guilt showed in his expression and Clark knew that it had finally sunken in to Whitney, that Clark wasn't a danger for him or his relationship. He nodded, reluctantly though.  
  
He searched for Lex eyes, wondering what his friend thought. Lex nodded, smiling at Clark and making a gesture of zipping closed his mouth. A heavyweight fell of Clarks heart. Lex would keep the secret. Maybe the others...  
  
"I'm sorry, Clark, for everything I inflicted on you, for every time I treated you like scum and for all the other things I did, that might have offended or hurt you. I'm sorry that you cannot have Lana, but I am glad at the same time, because she chose to be with me, even being best friends with you. If she will ever change her mind, I will try to accept it."  
  
Clark couldn't help but smile at this. He heard breaths that had been kept, while watching him.  
  
"Stop it, Fordman. I'll blush if you go on like this. And, by the way, everyone deserves at least a second chance. Some don't even get the first one."  
  
The smile Lana was sending him warmed his heart. He would get his second chance. And he hopefully wouldn't mess it up.  
  
The End 


End file.
